Social Influence Scores: Dead or Alive? Klout’s Out, But Is Skorr… In?

If you are in the habit of checking your Klout score on a regular basis, you might be one of the few who has kept Klout in business this long. Alas, even your use of the tool won’t be enough to keep it afloat. Catch up on the latest news about social influence scores and other news you need to know in this week’s Content Radar.

New app looks to even the Skorr as Klout goes out

It’s hard to believe that the Klout score is now 10 years old. The sometimes divisive, oft-ridiculed social influence score was most popular about five years into its existence when it was being touted by some as *the* authoritative indicator of an individual’s social influence. But, as is true with many of its fallen digital friends who no longer are around, people basically just stopped paying attention to Klout over the last few years.

Whereas Klout once was a major player with measuring social influence, it had become nothing more than a joke to most. Thus, Klout won’t survive to see its 11th anniversary. The company announced this week that it will be shutting down operations on May 25.

However, we know there is something of a circle of life in the world of digital marketing. Take these wise words from Mufasa: “A king’s time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king.”

That’s where Skorr comes in. As the sun sets on Klout, Skorr takes its place on the stage as the newest social influence score generator. But, you may ask, what makes Skorr different from Klout? It’s a good question.

Time will tell if Skorr befalls a similar fate, but in the meantime, here are a few reasons why the new influence score generator might work.

Because it’s new

Everybody likes the shiny new object that comes around. Skorr touts itself as the best tool for helping individuals get a feel for their level of influence on social media. If nothing else, the initial press Skorr has received will help them get a lot of traffic to start with. Its task will be to maintain and build upon that traffic. Companies have shown us multiple times that getting users is the easy part: Keeping them is harder (we’re looking at you, Vero).

It’s more about individuals than corporations

Whereas Klout started out catering to both individuals and companies, over time it moved more and more toward being a tool for B2B users and thus left the individuals behind. Skorr claims that not only are individuals their most important audience —they are the only audience. Skorr doesn’t cater to brands and companies. If you are a content creator and you want to see how you stack up with your ability to “influence” compared to your other content creator friends, Skorr can provide you with that analysis.

Because Skorr says so

On its FAQ page, Skorr takes head on the question about why it will work even though Klout failed. Among other things, the FAQ points out that Skorr “is needed as social media presence brings on its own new challenges, opportunities and threats that demand different skills, preparation and tools to cope with.”

The FAQ goes on to say that large brands have already started to answer these questions, whereas many individuals lack the resources or skills to do the same. “That’s why Skorr is needed,” the FAQ concludes, “to allow users to take control of their presence online, and to improve their performance and their influence and help them to achieve whatever objective they might have for being online.”

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About Chad

Chad Buleen is an award-winning journalist, the manager of social messaging for a large international nonprofit, a digital media enthusiast and father of four. Follow him on Twitter .